Israel will allow around 50 Hamas militants wounded in the Gaza Strip to leave for medical purposes every day for Egypt as part of a ceasefire agreement, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
According to an investigation published by this newspaper, the government approved that, from the second week of the agreement until the end of the first phase of 42 days, "wounded Hamas members will be able to travel to Egypt to receive medical treatment, accompanied by up to three people who do not have to be family members."
"Under the agreement, the (internal) security service, Shabak, will retain veto power over the identity of Hamas members expected to be treated in Egypt, as well as their companions," the report said.
The wounded Hamas members would cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, which has been closed since early May when Israel seized it following a ground operation in southern Gaza.
The Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat reported that the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas will control the post-war Rafah crossing, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied this and said that its "technical management" is already being carried out by Gazans "not affiliated with Hamas."
"Troops continue to surround the (Rafah) crossing, and no one passes through it without prior control, supervision and approval by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shabak," the statement said, adding that supervision of Palestinian workers in the area will be carried out by a European Union Border Monitoring Force.
"The only practical intervention by the Palestinian Authority (at the border crossing) is the registration stamp in passports, which, according to the current international agreement, is the only way to allow Gazans to leave the Strip," he added.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article